Once upon a time, and not very long ago, I was part of the cult of the “pocket pistol.”

I carried a Kahr CM9 and a spare magazine (2, 6-round magazines, plus one in the chamber) almost everywhere I went, and felt that it was adequate for just about any unpleasant social situation that I might come across.

After all, the odds of me ever needing more than six shots is statistically remote, as the average self-defense shooting is just two shots. Using that unimpeachable logic, any of the slim, single-column magazine pistols designed for concealed carry should be perfectly adequate.

Unfortunately, we’re living in a world where statistics and logic seem to have gone right out the window. We live in a world where our President’s Administration has armed drug cartels on American soil and terrorist groups overseas without any accountability for these crimes, where race riots are all but encouraged by the Democrat Party from Ferguson to Baltimore, where domestic terror attacks are increasing, where illegal immigration continues unabated, and where criminals are increasingly attacking law-abiding citizens in groups that seem to be growing in size.

While no handgun is truly adequate for a group assault, I can tell you that I’d rather be carrying a larger pistol with a double-column magazine if I was ever in a situation like the one Thursday night in Detroit where six thugs attacked two couples just hours apart:

Police in Detroit are searching for a group of men who allegedly attacked at least two couples walking down a street, forcing the male to watch as his female companion was gang raped.

A 22-year-old man and his 21-year-old girlfriend were walking along McNichols Road near Birwood Street on Thursday around 11:30pm when a group of three to six men approached them in the well-lit area, WWJ reported.

The couple was allegedly forced behind a nearby business, where the six men robbed and stripped them of their clothes.

Police say the violent men took turns sexually assaulting the woman and when the attack ended, the victims ran nude to a nearby liquor store for help.

Another couple was attacked just a few hours later at 2:40am when a 21-year-old man and his 19-year-old girlfriend were walking in the area of McNichols Road and Pierson Street.

Four men ordered them to the ground and then took took turns sexually assaulting the woman, forcing her boyfriend to watch, WWJ reported.

The suspects robbed the couple after the attack and ordered them to run away from the scene.

Again, you’re statistically unlikely to ever need more than two shots if you are even in a defensive gun use (DGU) situation. In fact, the mere presence of a firearm tends to send most craven thugs running for the hills without a shot being fired. Criminals are generally looking for an easy score, not a fight that could get them killed.

But we live in an ever-changing world, and one in which there seems to be a sort of acceptance of mob rule, and an allowance of basic civility to fail.

Would you feel adequately protected with a single-stack .380 in situation like the one in Detroit? Would a compact .40 S&W with six shots have been a credible deterrent in Chattanooga?

Perhaps.

It is instructive, however, that most self-defense firearms instructors tend to conceal carry a compact or full-size double-column pistol with at least one spare magazine (and sometimes more), with at least 13-rounds ready and at least a dozen more in reserve.

Are they overgunned?

I’d argue that they are simply better prepared for a wider range of threats… and that you should be, as well.